UCSF

Based on the Multidimensional Model of Cancer Pain, pain beliefs/attitudes are known to be an important element of the cognitive dimension of the cancer pain experience. Understanding the interactions between pain beliefs/attitudes and various dimensions of the cancer pain experience may provide new insights that can improve pain management. The purposes of this study were: 1) to determine the relationship between pain beliefs/attitudes and the pain experience 2) to determine the relationship between pain beliefs/attitudes and the type of cancer, current treatment, and pain management, and 3) to identify significant predictors of pain beliefs/attitudes. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used to investigate the above purposes among a convenience sample of 120 Taiwanese patients with advanced cancer. Results indicated that: 1) the cancer pain experience is a multidimensional concept and interactions exist within various dimensions; 2) pain beliefs measured by the PBPI were significantly correlated with pain intensity, total number of words describing pain quality, selected words of pain quality, anxiety, depression, quality of life, total number of pain locations, percentage of pain relief, adequacy of pain management, opioid usage, and analgesics prescription; 3) 54.6% of total variance in pain beliefs was explained by the six significant predictors (i.e., total number of words describing pain quality, least pain intensity, percentage of pain relief, adequacy of pain management, depression, and using gnawing to describe pain quality); 4) pain attitudes measured by SOPA were significantly correlated with pain intensity, pain quality, selected words of pain quality, anxiety, depression, quality of life, total number of pain locations, family monthly income, educational level, percentage of pain relief, adequacy of pain management, opioid usage, and analgesics prescription; and 5) 55.3% of total variance in pain attitudes was explained by eight significant predictors (i.e., family monthly income, educational level, adequacy of pain management, worst pain intensity, least pain intensity, using gnawing and tender to describe pain quality, and anxiety). The findings from this study contribute significantly to the literature of the Multidimensional Model of cancer pain and provide direction for assessing advanced cancer patients at high risk for having negative pain beliefs/attitudes.